Review Masako - Auckland Central

R2 G

Absolutely devine. Surprised with the vegitarian options I found. Taste was awesome, presentation and customer service top notch 👍 My 12 yr old meat eater and I (Vegitarian) thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. Economical but tasty

Gleb Anufriev

I had an Udon (vegetarian) which was tasty and filling, once I understood how to fish those huge noodles with the wooden spoon 😅 (I guess it would be easier with chopsticks for those who are used to it)

Andie Cee

Stumbled across this place while visiting, the food was delicious and packed with flavour. Sushi in large rolls but cut thinly, absolutely perfect. Will definitely return when I'm back in Auckland.

Inscape NZ

Had a team lunch here, 10 of us. We made a booking, pre-ordered, food was served hot and fast once we were all seated. We had an odd L-shaped table in the corner which was a little awkward as we couldn't see everyone, next time we'll ask for a long table on the inside. Service was friendly. One of us left a bag behind and we got a call within a few minutes of leaving to come back for it.

Bettina W

Wow… I wish I knew about this place when I lived in Auckland. I haven’t had an amazing bento box like this for a very long time. The tempura arrived piping hot, salmon sashimi was a decent, proper cut and the teriyaki chicken was delicious too. This place isn’t fancy, but definitely has authentic Japanese food.

Chris Gorman

Great value and very tasty - I got the karaage donburi and my pal got the house bento box. Portions were giant and everything was really fresh. The restaurant also offers a help-yourself setup so you can fill a takeaway box from the sushi and skewers in their cabinets. We'll definitely be back.

Benedict Uy

Came by for lunch. The entrance had a selection of sushi as well as different goodies but I decided to eat in and pick from the menu. Went up to the counter and was led to a table, which they had to clean. It was surprisingly full since it was around 1330. They then came back to take my order. I had the karaage chicken and the BBQ Beef lunch box. The bento came with salad, spring rolls and sushi. The beef was quite tasty and flavoursome. There wasn't a lot but enough for the rice. The karaage was juicy and crispy. Nice lunch stop.

Alexhughes79

Very good. Been here 3 times now. Not cheap but worth the money. Thank you

Fabio Oliveira

Hidden gem on K'rd. Authentic Japanese Food. A must try is the Donburi Karagee Chicken. Delicious 😋

Mary Binney

A little more expensive than other sushi prices but also nicer so worth it. Unlike most sushi joints it also has plenty of seating and is attractively decorated and comfortable

Victor Wang

I went by this location in the afternoon and they were offering 50% off all pre plated sushi/boxes. Unsure if this promotion runs every day but if you can take advantage it’s great food at a great price. Very authentic unique Japanese teriyaki for the pre packed box that I picked. Flavors were all great and the rice was slightly stale but still had good texture. For the price, it was undeniably the best Japanese food I’ve had.

Richard Ziegler

A great place for lunch, large selection of ready made donburi that only cost $5! Or pick individual sushi and other Japanese items. Fantastic dining area too, the Japanese staff are always hard working and nice. Highly Recommended.

Geoff Hancock (Hanktastic)

Good quality Japanese food on K road. There are many food options here, I went with the salmon teriyaki don, which may be a limited special. The place had atmosphere and was clean and comfortable.

coen cramer

Yes 5 star, it was deserved. A city trip is always at some point this situation. Out of hotel to explore, missing a decent breakfast as "we grab something along the way" ends in missing lunch as we had a late cookie with a late breakfast coffee and the. To early for dinner tired of walking getting hanggry on eachother then even with not wanting an early dinner ending up ordering 3 plates at 15:45 as your tummies are needing the satisfaction.... Walked all day through the city so wanting more then just a grab-to-go sushi box and wanting some table service... This place is the best! So many delicious choices and all well priced. The miso is to die for as I normally skip this. It could have been the cold rain or the long day, but it was sweet, salty fragrant and beautiful. The food came fast, service had the best smile and conversation and the shop had a great atmosphere. We will be back!

Lilian Monaghan

Been here many times and always love their sushi which were so delicious and fresh. The owners were very friendly and nice.

Christie Martel

Delicious teriyaki bento box - lots of vegetarian options available. 10/10 would definitely go again!

Steve Desai

The inside is nicely done food taste great , reasonably priced

Lewella

The place is clean and staff are friendly. The food is great, I ordered the Spicy Chicken Donburi, the portion size was good and well balanced, moreover, it was not so spicy. I love the complimentary Miso soup, it was delicious. I went there for a quick late lunch, it was my first timing there and I will definitely go back next time.

Terri-Lee Georgee

Literally every single thing about this place is 10/10. I’ve only recently moved to NZ from overseas, and this ramen is better than any I’ve potentially ever had. It’s to die for. It will change your life. Go eat it. Now. The staff are wonderfully friendly and welcoming. The decor is so cute and obviously meticulously curated and maintained. I’m obsessed with the sweet, little origami displays throughout! It feels like someone has put a lot of love and care into creating the space. Only bummer is they don’t serve alcohol 😢 because a crisp Japanese beer would REALLY cap off the amazing food. Also their trading hours are not super huge by any means, but you just gotta time your indulgence well 😌🙏🏽 Go get the ramen. Thank me later!

Kelsey Rowe

Incredible owners, really friendly and food never disappoints!

LilianMonaghan

Been here many times and always love their sushi which were so delicious and fresh. The owners were very friendly and nice.

Benedict Uy

Came by for lunch. The entrance had a selection of sushi as well as different goodies but I decided to eat in and pick from the menu. Went up to the counter and was led to a table, which they had to clean. It was surprisingly full since it was around 1330. They then came back to take my order. I had the karaage chicken and the BBQ Beef lunch box. The bento came with salad, spring rolls and sushi. The beef was quite tasty and flavoursome. There wasn't a lot but enough for the rice. The karaage was juicy and crispy. Nice lunch stop.

MCP

used to frequent this shop when i studied nearby, have lots of sushi choices which u can pick yourself, always fresh sushi and friendly staff!

Spencer's Reviews

I have always loved this place, great sushi always. But sadly I found two plastic cling wrap in two bits of my sushi. Very disappointed and won’t be going there again

Vita

Masako has a lovely atmosphere as soon as you step foot in it, traditional and minimal. You're also greeted with a great array of sushi with plenty of toppings in them. I ordered a salmon donburi and my partner ordered a variety of their maki rolls and nigiri. The salmon don was generous with the salmon and avo; I felt very satiated even on a completely empty stomach. It's a bit on the pricey side so I probably wouldn't come often. Furthermore, I do feel like lots of their sushi have too much sauce on them but that's just a personal preference. Otherwise, the service was very friendly and the food was fresh and of good quality.

Raymond Tiong

While this eatery seems like a popular takeaway option with their mini donburi and sushi options, I was looking for a place with decent ramen and was sadly unimpressed. Even though they advertised having ramen dishes available, there’s not a huge range. I had to get a separate menu for it to look at their 3 choices. While the broth was nice, the katsu ramen was especially disappointing in terms of its topping: no egg, no naruto, and only beansprouts and a bit of spring onion. It wasn’t filling either; I ended up buying a snack further down K Road just to feel full. A few things in the dining experience could be improved. They have hot tea on tap but no water, and napkins were not readily available. The waitress was sweet but not super welcoming, especially when I first walked in.

Helen D

I loved this place when I used to work in the area 13 years ago. The restaurant is still the same and very popular at lunch time for take aways. I got the chicken teriyaki which used to be hands down amazing, you used to get lots and it was sticky sweet and absolutely delicious. Now you get about half and the sauce is quite watery with very little flavour. It was a good feed and I did enjoy it but it used to be much better. Would still come again, thanks.

Janice McCartain Dagg

Came here as we were looking for a quick afternoon snack. We were here at about 5pm so it was the end of the day not too many options available but that is understandable. We got a range of sushi, Teriyaki, Pork, fried chicken and a dumpling. The fried chicken was especially tasty. Received 20% off the total as it was the end of the day. Would definitely come back here.

Aimee.

Amazing place for sushi. The location is super convenient and close to university. The sushi itself is cheap and there’s a huge variety- not to mention it’s displayed nicely. The restaurant is clean and the sushi is fresh and delicious.

Arjm19

I'm not often in the k road area but when I'm up here, this place is easy to spot if you're looking for it on foot, I love getting sushi at this place. Cheap and competitively priced, I choose this place over other sushi places as their sushi pieces are so flavourful and yum. I've never dined in so I can't comment on prompt service but the people at the check out are always so bubbly. I love the option of being able to dine in or just taking away and the takeaway options still remain just as interesting as the rest of the menu as opposed to other places like this. however the individual piece picking option can prove quite costly if you get carried away

Katerina Gerasimenko

Amazing!!! I'm a big fan of mayo and its just the best sushi place that does sushi and tons of mayo on top! The flavours are just great and its also very affordable! Honestly love this place for quick delicious sushi on the go!

Ghost Reviewer

I love the sushi here. it's cheap, fresh, tasty and if you want to eat in you really get that authentic Japanese feel. The staff are all friendly as well, its in a nice quiet location.

Porvi Fomra

Some of the most visually appealing sushi and also a wide range of options to choose from. Some of the items were a bit pricey. Would defiantly go back.

Kaushikc_32

This is the place where I had my first sushi in Auckland and it was really good. It was fresh they really a huge range to choose from, slightly on the costlier side but the taste does just to the price. The spicy chicken inari and the spicy seaweed sushi are the best sushi I have had anywhere in auckland .

Anna Smith

This is the best sushi place I've come across. I'm vegetarian and they have so many options. I love their vege dumplings, tofu sushi, and particularly the spicy tofu donburi. Their food is always fresh, beautifully presented and the staff are very lovely and welcoming. The place is also clean and tidy...the only down side is it is slightly on the expensive side, I pay on average $1.50 per piece of sushi, but for me its worth the price because the flavour is incredible and the service is great.

Di

They have a lot of self service sushis, like teriyaki chicken, salmon, prawn, fish, and veggie sushis, also offer some deep fried Japanese snacks and lunch boxes, they all look very nice, but a bit expensive

Seamus M.

I like this sushi place! They have a variety of pretty designed sushi. They're also cheap if you're short on money and the staff are very nice. Visit most times when around the area.

Trina

They have really affordable meals and sushi. Very friendly people and a nice place to eat and relax when you dine in, always manage to eat here or buy food from here. Sushi is from $1 each so affordable!

Ryan

Good for a cheap meal if you grab one of their takeaway specials. However it's comparable to fast food, has been pre-prepared and not the most satisfying. I would be interested to try the dine in menu to see if the quality is different.

Zoe Huang

I ordered Teriyaki chicken lunch box ($12.5) and see what their Teriyaki chicken is like. The reality is the lunch box was quite disappointing me. Indeed, there are many kinds of thing inside but all in small portion. If you are in diet, it’s a good choice for you. Otherwise, it’s not…

PancakePanda

The piece by piece takeout-sushi is average at best. Price is a good draw-card for this place as well as it's location. Would HIGHLY advise against getting anything off the dinner menu as portion sizes are tiny and you will never get full unless you spend over $40 per person. For a petite Asian woman, I was starving and went to get McDonalds after dinner with friends here. The pictures on the menu do not justify or even come close to being replicated on the plate of thin air and 3 pieces of sashimi put in front of you. Be warned, stick to the hand rolled sushi!! The saving grace for this review would be the cheap sushi at the end of the lunch run, they have been careful though, as many people used to walk by and snatch the plastic boxes of sushi in a quick grab and dash, they have now started putting the fresh and more expensive sushi inside.

#1

Masako is a nice place for Japanese food. The Sushis are good. Donburi preparations are also very nice. The ambience is fair and staff is overall communicative. Will go again.

Vivien @ KJAS Blog

I was craving some sushi, so I thought I'd pop into here and give it a go. There are a lot of sushi vendors on K Rd, but I chose this one because I really liked its almost traditional look shop front, and inside looked really cozy and dark and warm. While it's a great environment, the sushi didn't impress me. The fillings were sadly unfresh, and this was around 2pm when they were just restocking the cabinets after the lunch rush. I also felt like the salmon to sushi proportion was too small and that the nori and avocado especially overwhelmed the salmon flavour as a result. The other sushi I tried appeared more generously filled, but were a mouthful of mayonnaise essentially. One was blanched prawns in mayonnaise, the other was a sort of inarizushi-inception creation that would probably have tasted better if pork was substituted for the mayonnaise deluge in the centre. Overall, the sushi isn't that fresh or generously sized here, but I think I'll have to go back and see if their specialty is actually the ramen or maybe the fried snacks because the service and venue was really cozy.

Rojas

Masako offer a wide variety of sushi options for even the fussiest of diners. I tried a few different sushi options and was please nth surprised at the freshness of it. Loved the rainbow role the most, a perfect combo of seafood and sauces.

Geoff Butler

This place is handy to work so I've been there twice. Both times have had their "issues". On the first occasion a colleague and I waited more than 20 minutes for our lunch. When I pointed this out, the manager took $1 off the price.... My next visit was also with a work group and the lunch was served fairly quickly. I'd rate the food as quite good, both for value and taste but I'm a little troubled by the sight of a lot of fresh food that is open to the air and uncovered and unchilled. Clearly this is acceptable as far as the Health Department is concerned as it displays an "A" certificate.... When it came to paying for my lunch I was charged $12 for a meal that was on the menu for $11. I do however salute the amazing memory of the owner who clearly recalled the $1 discount from a couple of years ago. I did get my $1 back I would point out. So I would suggest: checking your bill: be prepared to wait and maybe choose your food with care.

Steve Hall

One of the better sushi places around, spoilt for choice for flavours. Even non traditional flavours, such as Bacon and Egg are surprisingly good, only ever had takeaway, but good cheap prices for some pieces, and tastes good too :)

Monica

Have been for dinner twice. I enjoy the Japanese food and I like the authenticity of the decour and waiters - dressed in kimonos. The first time we had to wait for food for ages, maybe an hour because it was pretty busy for them. I was a bit impatient, though it was good the waiters apologised several times and were quite genuine about it - not pushy or anything. When the food came I really enjoyed it - quite delicious and wanted more. Price is fine though it can creep up on you if you order quite a few things. I would recommend a try if you enjoy Japanese, but maybe go on a less busy night.

Rachel Schuurman

We went to dinner on a deal voucher and had a great time. The service was friendly and efficient and meals served very quick. The place is cute and food very reasonably priced. We shared a few things between us which were absolutely delicious and enjoyable. Great food! The only things I would recommend to the restaurant to make an even better experience would be to serve drinks in glassware for dinner guests and some different music. The same CD was on repeat while we were there and one song had swearing all the way through it which was a little out of place!

Allan Fong

Pros: Staff were good and polite, atmosphere was also good. Tempuras were very good. recommend it. Cons: Portions were tiny. make sure you have a big wallet to get enough food on the table. WORST karaage chicken ever!, chicken used looked like chicken scraps and the batter was soft, makes Mc Donalds chicken nuggets look like fine dining. The agedashi tofu was also one of the worst samples i've had, lacked flavour and ingredients.

Delwyn S

Went on a deal voucher for 5+ people (took 8 , 4 kids age 7-12) adults 4. The food took ages, and it was quite small portions (it was nice when it came out) just brought it through 1 plate at a time, with only about 4 pieces on it and the rest full of lettuce etc so only 4 out of the eight could most of the time get to eat, and often had to half a prawn between us. We ordered on top of our voucher as it really wasn't going to feed us (3 of the adults are normal sized adults with normal sized appetites) and still left hungry with a large bill. Not happy. Wouldn't recommend it for families.

Angela

I went here several times. I really enjoyed coming here with friends to talk while eating different small dishes. I like the atmosphere in the restaurant, the staff is also friendly. The food is delicious and it taste good with Japanese sake.

Lauren Jane

Went here three days in a row for sushi because it was just amazing the first time! Some pieces are only $1 so great value compared to a lot of sushi places. The staff are Japanese too so I converse with them every now and then!!! Love this place. 5 out of 5!

Haden Hansen

After the bad experience here years ago with horrible food. I decided to risk Masako again. I'm please to report the food is now actualyl really good. Especially the pork and cheese Katsu. :D Also, the Salmon Nigiri was really fresh!